Nearly 36 years ago I got started in a design and T shirt printing business. I got talked into it by a mate, he had the gift of the gab I had the 'technical' skills. After a couple of years I took the business name, he took most of the gear.

We didn't get far, drank a LOT of wine, spirits and beer, chatting about what to do next, planning, more chatting and actually not doing much else.

We printed some T shorts and tried to seel them at a Sunday market. I gave many more away than I sold, my friends loked fab in the trendy wincheaters we produced. :)

In the end he didn't do too much and I ended up doing some graphic designs and I got paid, he did nothing so he got nothing... He didn't know I got paid :) It ws all good in the end, other friends said "I told you so!"

I have stareted a bunch of businesses since then learning more along the way. If I was talking to myself all those years back I would probably say this...
- Get smart about marketing, in fact LEARN all you can about it...
- Know your target market, we didn't have a clue.. even at the end! :)
- Systems, policies and procedures rock.
- Create an asset you can sell, even if you don't sell it.
- Create a decent agreement amongst partners.
- Figure out your strengths and weaknesses and work on both!
- Createa plan you can act on...

Would love to get a conversation going around your experiences in starting your businesses.  
@Jef Lippiatt @Meng Lin @Chana Imsirovic @Steve Gray @Maria Bellissimo-Magrin @Katherine MacPherson @Petra Zink @Jasmine Rawlinson